This is to inspire some discussion, i’ve already written a blog on it, but i’m interested in what people think before i post it.
Would you rather have a world that where everyone that was religious was Christian but sat in church buildings and let the rest of the world die in their poverty etc.
Or
Would you rather have a world where everyone that was religious was Muslim or Buddhist but they never went to church and were concerned about taking care of those in poverty and those in need.
Leave comments. I’ll post my entry soon.
haha well i gotta say, that sure is a question to make ya think.. hmm.. well i was at first goin to say the second option would be my choice because i think the first option doesnt really work in the fact that your just sitting in church not helping anyone and in doing so your sort of dissobeying what God has asked us to do? Would you really be a christian, because a christian should have Gods love in him and God would help the people, i guess im just thinking about in the bible about that one story or parable where God said, i was naked and you did not cloth me, i was hungry and you did not feed me, and so on..
but then there is the second option where ultimatley there are no christians and if indeed christians are the only ones to inherit eternal life then everyone would be screwed..
maybe i read them wrong and my reply doesnt make any sence, but in the end i dont know which id pick,,
ill just stick with the flawed world we have where we can go out and feed the poor and cloth the naked and let God do his thing to prove his plan perfect.. in the end
I guess at first glance the obvious choice to anyone who cared about the state of the world would be number 2… except that the effects of idolatry on behaviour always end up destroying people. It’s not just that other religions “Get the God question wrong” on a theology exam, it’s that their objects of greatest devotion dehumanize them and others (cf. Romans 1). In the end, I think a world with a backslidden church has better long term prospects (e.g. the possibility of waking up and fulfilling their duty) than a world with nice pagans (e.g. falling deeper into their sin as God eventually judges them for their idolatry).
Hi Nathan,
How is your summer? I am good. Anyways, time for some blogging participation:
if the church peeps were really religious, then they would be helping out the poor anyways. there is no dichotomy. but if you meant “religious” as in immature Christians who focused on churchy stuff but refused to help the poor, then I would pick option 1 since at least there is a population of the redeemed in the world, who, hopefully in time, would realize that they will eventually have to help the poor.
Jumping ahead to answer the real point of the quiz (if i may), I believe that one of the ways of changing the state of the world is actually through prayer and worship that happens to take place in a church. This enables us to change the atmosphere of the world around us and speak life into things that need healing. This enables us to ask for things that for man is impossible, but for God is possible. God is the resource, who releases the storehouses of grain and rain. So believe that what you do and ask in church is not in vain, but has divine consequences in the heavenlies (spiritual warfare) and the earth.
For example, God says that if the Israelites were obedient in worship (sacrifices, etc. Leviticus), then their fields would yield so much that they would be eating last year’s harvest while harvesting this year’s harvest. Now that’s beating poverty!
So in conclusion, not only do we have to be generous, but we have to commit to believing that when you go to church, things actually do happen! The atmosphere of Toronto is being blessed because of the thousands of peeps who are worshipping God every Sunday! Our prayers are being answered! Just PUSH! Stay in church!
Kingdom Blessings